Compressor



Nov. 4, 1930. N. A. CHRISTENSEN l 1,780,642

lCOMPRESSOR f Filed March 15, 1929 25 the engine and has Patented Non?.y 4, 1930v I U'NlTEo sTATEs NIELS A. CHRISTNSEN, I? CLEVELAND, OHIO i coMrREssoE.

- Application mea namhaaisas. serial Nuja-17,219.

, generator shaft of an automotive vehicle, but

all prior commercial constructions of which I am aware have proven unsatisfactory. I attribute most of these difficulties tothe manner of mounting and lubricating the compressor,

' both of which features are of vital importance in securing efficient operation and'long life.

Y According to the present invention these difficulties have been overcome by supplying a force-feed lubrication of the crank shaft of the 'compressor from the pressure supply of the engine and allowing the excess oil to lubricate the compressor cylinder, with provision, however, for an unimpeded drain of the oil back into the engine crank case. Furthermore, the lower half of the crank case of the compressor is fprmed as a side cover for the'large drain opening which allows the oil to drain freely from the compressor into the main engine crank case and thence to the sump.

The invention further consists in the several features hereinafter set forth and more rparticularly defined by claims at the conclusion hereof.

In theV drawings Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view through an. automotive engine equipped with a compressor construction eml bodying the invention, parts being broken away 'and parts being shown in section; Flg. 2 is a detail side elevation view of the engine, parts ofthe compressor being shown section as takena'long the line 2-2 of ig. 1. v l

Referring to the drawings the numeral 3 designates an internal combustion engine of the automotive type which has a lay-shaft 4, here shown as the generator drive shaft driven from the crank shaft 5 ofthe engine in known manner and 6 designates the compressor, here shown as a'two cylinder compressor.

The constructionl of the cylinder 7 ,the pis- 59 tons (not shown)H working therein and the in'- 'necting-.rods receive the proper amount of lubricant.

as the invention is concerned with the manner of lubricating the moving parts and mounting the compressor on the engine, further showing or description of these well known parts is considered unnecessary.

The cylinders 7 are mounted on the upper half 8 of the crank case which is secured by bolts 9 to the lower half 10 of the crankcase, which is formed as an integral part of a side cover 11 having a large drain opening 12 extending from the bottom of the crank case 10 to the side opening 13 in the. crank case 14 of the engine, saidrcover being secured to said engine by b olts 15. f

.The crank shaft 16 of the compressor, upon which the connecting-rods 17 for driving the compressor pistons are mounted in known manner, is journalled in bearings 18 7 1n the upper half 8 of the crankcase and in y bearlng caps 19 secured thereto. One end 20 of the crank shaft extends beyond the crankcase and carries a coupling flange 21 secured by a suitable flexible coupling 22 to the shaft 4. l

An end-plate 23 is secured to both halves of the crankcase through which the crank shaft 16 ,projects and an oil thrower ring 24 is mounted on said shaft adjacent said plate 1n order to form an oil-tight joint and the oil thrown off drains back directly through theopenlng 12l into the crankcase of the engine.

A pipe 25, receiving lubricant from the pressure lubricant supply `of the engine, communicates 'witha lengthwise extending passage 26 formed in the lower crankcase and Athis passage has branch passages 27 leading therefrom which ycommunicate with v vertically disposed passages 28 that lead into holes 29 in thebearings for the crank shaft 16, whereby these bearingsreceive ari adequate supply of oil.

The crank shaft 16 also has the inclined drilled passages 30 that connect each of its bearing portions with the crank bearings 31, whereby the big end bearings of y the con- There is no splash oiling employed in this arrangement excepting what spray may be thrown up against the pistons during the working of the compressor. The inside of the crankcase of the compressor is in Wide open connection with the engine crankcase and thus may receiveheavily charged vapor within its crankcase, but at no time is there any great accumulation ofoil within the compressor, as it drains freely back into the engine crank case.

With the above arrangement the oil for the cylinders is not delivered thereto under high pressure but the oil is checked or held back to some extent because it has to find its way out through the bearings and when it has passed through the vconstrictions and finally enters thecompressor crank case it is freely drawn off linto the engine crank case through the large opening 12 provided for that purpose. It will be noted that the sides of this opening form a large hollow pedestal connecting the compressor crank case with the plate 11.

As the lower half of the crank case ,is preferably formed as a part of the side cover plate, the compressor is rigidly mounted and thev strains are transmitted to the main body of the engine in a most eicient manner.

I desire it to be understood that this invention is not to be limited to any particular form or arrangement of parts except insofar as such limitations are included in the claims. i

What I claim as myinvention is:

1. In an automotive engine, the combination with the pressure lubricating system and a lay shaft of said engine and the engine crank case having a side opening, of a cover plate for said side opening having a hollow pedestal portion extending therefrom, a compressor having its crankcase freely communicating with the engine crank case through said pedestal, said compressor having a crank shaft, driven from said lay shaft, a connecting-rod mounted thereon, and means for lubricating the bearings of said crank shaft andconnecting-rod from the pressure lubricating system of the engine, the oil from said bearings being free to drain from said compressor crank case and With the vapor formed in the crank cases forming the sole source of lubricant for the cylinder of the compressor.

2. In an automotive engine, the combination with the pressure lubricating system and compressor drive means and the'engine crank case having a side opening, of a cover plate for said side opening having a hollow pedestal extending therefrom and a compressorr crank case portion, a compressor having a crank shaft mounted in said compresso'r crank case, and means for lubricating the moving parts vof the compressor byV is permitted to drain back freely into the englne crank case.

3. In an automotive engine, the combination with the. pressure lubricating system and compressor drive means driven by the engine and the engine crank case having a side opening, of a compressor mounted on sald engine and having its crank case freely communicating with said engine crank case through said side opening, a crank shaft mounted in said crank case, means for lubricating the bearings of the compressor crank shaft 'and connecting-rod from the lubrlcating system of the engine, the oil from said bearings being free to drain freely from the compressor crank case into the engine crank case and with the vapor formed in said crank cases forming the sole source of lubrication for the cylinderof the compresser.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature.

NIELS A. CHRISTENSEN.

oil supplied to said crank shaft, which oil l 

